


The Blue Witch

by Silverwolfsbane29



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Human-Monster War (Undertale), Immortal, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mage, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Undecided Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-07-25 00:32:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16186376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverwolfsbane29/pseuds/Silverwolfsbane29
Summary: It had been a month since the barrier on Mount Ebott fell, and the monsters returned to the surface. Since then there had been protests and rallies, enough news coverage to make even the best reporter’s head spin, and government conferences discussing the new laws that would have to be put in place. Many people were displeased with the monsters return, and some were filled with excitement and curiosity. No matter which side a person fell on, they all had one thing in common; no one had expected the monsters’ arrival. No one even knew they were down there. The knowledge of their existence had died out centuries ago, and the humans capable of magic, the ones who would have carried that knowledge, had all but disappeared. The humans, mages, and witches who had fought in the war that put them there were long since deceased. All except one.





	1. Old Friends are Hard to Avoid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a month since the barrier on Mount Ebott fell, and the monsters returned to the surface. Since then there had been protests and rallies, enough news coverage to make even the best reporter’s head spin, and government conferences discussing the new laws that would have to be put in place. Many people were displeased with the monsters return, and some were filled with excitement and curiosity. No matter which side a person fell on, they all had one thing in common; no one had expected the monsters’ arrival. No one even knew they were down there. The knowledge of their existence had died out centuries ago, and the humans capable of magic, the ones who would have carried that knowledge, had all but disappeared. The humans, mages, and witches who had fought in the war that put them there were long since deceased. All except one.

It had been a month since the barrier on Mount Ebott fell, and the monsters returned to the surface. Since then there had been protests and rallies, enough news coverage to make even the best reporter’s head spin, and government conferences discussing the new laws that would have to be put in place. Many people were displeased with the monsters return, and some were filled with excitement and curiosity. No matter which side a person fell on, they all had one thing in common; no one had expected the monsters’ arrival. No one even knew they were down there. The knowledge of their existence had died out centuries ago, and the humans capable of magic, the ones who would have carried that knowledge, had all but disappeared. The humans, mages, and witches who had fought in the war that put them there were long since deceased. All except one.

* * *

 

“Gods dammit, I’ll never get used to that infernal device,” Anya muttered from under a heap of blankets, her hand slamming down on her screaming alarm clock. The girl wriggled her way from the mountains of blankets, groaning in frustration as they knotted around her legs, eventually managing to get herself free, but sliding gracelessly off the bed into a great heap on the floor from her efforts. Pulling herself up with great effort, she angrily tossed the blankets back onto the bed with an exaggerated huff, and stormed into the kitchen of her apartment. 

“Stupid blankets, stupid morning, stupid alarm thing,” Anya growled under her breath, flicking her wrist towards the coffee maker sitting on the counter. A dark haze enveloped the coffee maker, and a moment later it began to take apart and clean itself, filling with fresh water from the sink tap and coffee grounds from the cupboard, clicking back into place before starting the fresh brew. As it worked towards her much needed morning fix of caffeine, she made her way to the bathroom to take a quick shower, ignoring her cats irritated yowl from feeling the magic’s static-like charge in the air. 

Anya made quick work of getting ready; washing her light blue hair before drying and tying it back in a loose braid, applying a light amount of makeup, and getting dressed into ripped, black jeans and a grey tank top with a black sweater thrown overtop.

With that finished with, she returned to the kitchen. Sitting at the single barstool at the kitchen counter, she summoned her prepared cup of coffee and picked up her phone from where it sat charging on the counter. Gulping down the scalding drink, she flipped through the news on her phone. The main focus for the past month had been on the reemerged monsters. She knew that wouldn’t change for a while, and although she has happy they were no longer stuck in the underground, she was getting annoyed with the constant reminders. Sighing, she stuffed her phone into her pocket, finished her coffee, and stood up to leave. The best way to distract herself was to immerse herself in work. It’s all she could do.

Grabbing her keys and purse, Anya slipped on a leather jacket, filled her cats food and water dish, flicked her hand uncaringly towards her used coffee mug with the muttered command, “clean yourself,” and exited her apartment, seeing the cup fly towards the sink as she shut the door behind herself. It was as she was locking up that she noticed the door of the apartment next to hers was wide open, cardboard boxes taking up part of the hall, and unfamiliar voices sounding inside. She had known the apartment was currently being offered, but she hadn’t known it had been claimed. Anya scoffed slightly, wondering how long it would take for them to grow tired of her insistent music playing like the last people, and shook her head. She quickly left before she might see the new tenants and be forced to deal with introductions, but as she left she heard a loud ‘NYEH HEH HEH’ come from the apartment. 

Gods, if she has to deal with a loud ass laugh like that, she’ll be the one leaving.

* * *

The small flower shop Anya worked at was the perfect job. It was small enough that she didn’t have to constantly deal with the pestering of customers, there were only ever three employees at most, but sometimes she got the shop to herself for an afternoon, and she got to work in her element. She was a plant lover, her magical abilities originating from her links within nature, and maybe her abilities had become a tad skewed through the years, but she still held that deep root in her that craved the pure form of life. The job only had one downside; Jasper.

“You see the news this morning?” Jasper asked, leaning against the front counter of the flower shop while Anya watered the plants sitting in the window. Jasper was a second year college student, working part time while going to school, and he hung off of Anya whenever they had a shift together. She didn’t have anything against him personally, but she wasn’t interested in having friends or anything else of the sort, and he definitely was. 

“Nope,” Anya replied.

“Apparently there was a big rally in the park to pass the new monster legislation, and all these anti-monster protesters showed up and a couple of people got hurt,” Jasper explained, “It was all over the news, I can’t believe you haven’t seen it yet.”

“No offence, but I don’t really care,” Anya muttered, setting down down the watering can, and wiping her hands on her apron.

“Do you care about anything?” Jasper laughed, ever immune to the witch’s crabby mood, “Every time I try and talk about anything you’re all gloomy! C’mon, you have to be interested in something! Art? Books? Weird animals?”

“You caught me, I’m a babirusa enthusiast,” Anya scoffed dryly, taking shears to trim away dead leaves from a pink rosebush. 

“Oh good, I had a hunch you were,” Jasper smiled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “Hey, after work, do you maybe wanna go - “ 

The bell at the front of the shop rung, cutting off his question. Looking up, Anya briefly saw a pair of tall horns peeking over top one of the displays at the front of the shop. Turning away to head into one of the back storage rooms, she quickly came up with the excuse, “Need to grab some flower food, this one’s all yours, slick.”

“R-right,” Jasper nodded, an embarrassed flush spreading on his cheeks, before turning to the customer and announcing, “Good morning, Asgore, anything I can help you with?”

“No, thank you, just grabbing the usual,” Anya heard the previous monster king’s deep voice answer in reply, along with his heavy footsteps as he went across the shop to where they kept an array of golden flowers. Anya had been avoiding anything to do with monsters, especially the pre-war monsters.

“Whatever happened to the girl with blue hair?” She could hear Asgore asking Jasper as he got rung through at the counter, “I’ve seen her a couple of times, but it seems like whenever I come in she’s gone.”

“Oh, you mean Anya,” Jasper laughed, “She’s in the backroom right now. I think she’s shy or something, she has a hard time talking to customers.”

“Does she go to school like you?” Asgore asked. His questions were nothing but friendly, but Anya felt disturbed and willed for him to leave the store now. Or at least for Jasper to shut his trap.

“Nah she works full time, but I think she plays once a month at one of the bars down the street,” Jasper went on, earning an unseen glare from Anya through the walls, “She sings or something, I guess. I’ve never actually watched, but I heard her talking about it with our manager once. I’m pretty sure she has a show tonight.”

‘Curse you, Jasper,’ Anya thought ruefully. She had managed to get a job singing at a bar twice a month for extra pocket money, and she knew it would nip her in the butt eventually. She loved music, and she loved learning how to play new instruments. It was easy enough to charm her voice into sounding more pleasing to the audience - similar to a siren's effect except not as powerful - but she didn't want people to know her. At the time it seemed like easy cash. Now she wasn't too sure. 

“Well I'm sure I'll run into her eventually, it's a small town,” Asgore replied, “Have a nice day.”

“You too.” 

A moment later the bell above the door chimed once again, and the monster king was gone. Groaning to herself, Anya pressed her face in her hands and thought of her situation. She didn't want to see any of the pre-war monsters, she wasn't ready, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Asgore regularly came to the flower shop, her commute to work overlapped Toriel’s commute to take her kid to school, and two weeks ago Grillby had gone to the bar she sung at. She managed to slip away right after, but later the manager of the bar had told her that Grillby had been looking for her to see if she wanted to have a similar job at his bar, and that he'd come back to talk to her later.

Anya didn't know what to do; she didn't want to be remembered.

She couldn’t handle a confrontation with the monsters, especially when they learn she’s still capable of magic. Even just the thought of what might happen was making her magic flare up in defence. She hid in the storage room for a few minutes longer, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and settle down the strains of magic pushing to be released, before grabbing a bag of flower fertilizer and returning to the front of the shop. For now, she would have to hope for the best.

* * *

After her shift had finished, Anya walked back to her apartment with the hood of her sweater up. Asgore was at least somewhat interested in meeting ‘the blue haired girl’ that worked at the flower shop, so for now she’d make it at least somewhat more difficult to identify her; once she had a moment she would change her hair colour again. On her walk back, the sidewalk of her usual route had been closed off for construction, making Anya frown and huff in frustration. Turning on her heel, she walked a block over and continued down a slightly longer way, but stopped in her tracks when a bright neon sign caught her attention. Giant block letters spelt out “GRILLBY’S” overtop of what looked like a pub or bar, pushing a sinking feeling into her gut. 

‘Just my luck,’ Anya thought to herself, but decided to continue on since she was already half way down the street, and no one was hanging around the entrance. However, as she got closer to the establishment, she noticed some of the windows had been broken, and the message ‘monster scum’ had been painted over the door. Deciding to ignore it, Anya continued down the street, but she only got a few feet before her frustration and guilt forced her to turn back around and stand in front of the bar door with a deep frown on her face. The paint was a few days old, she could see where the rain from the day before had faded some of it, so Grillby must have seen it by now. She could also see marks where he must have tried cleaning it off, but was unsuccessful. Scratching a black, painted nail across the graffiti, she could see that it was a thick layer of basic paint. Sighing to herself, Anya looked around the street to see if anyone were paying attention before flicking her wrist towards the painted message and whispering, “evanescet,” and watched as the message quickly dissolved from the door. Taking a pen and sticky note from her purse, she quickly scribbled out, “try using vinegar next time,” and stuck it to the door. Turning on her heel, Anya continued down the street, briefly hearing the door to the bar opening before a startled voice shouted, “Hey Grillby, looks like someone cleaned your door!” 

Anya smiled to herself, it felt nice to do something good once in awhile.

Once Anya had reached her apartment, she headed straight to the washroom and stared intently at her pastel blue hair. She loved the colour; she had been so happy when the humans had invented light enough dye for this colour of hair, and she really didn’t want to get rid of it yet, but it stood out too much. Groaning in frustration, she twisted one of the locks around her finger and thought of a suitable new colour. Before the war she had had dark brown hair, so that was off the table, and she couldn’t have any other eye-catching colours like blue. Having made up her mind, she concentrated on her reflection in the mirror and watched as her hair gradually changed to a light brown, starting from the roots and slowly traveling down to the tips. 

Anya sighed as she took in her reflection, an odd sort of panic forming in her chest that she hadn’t felt in decades. The monsters were all too close. She’d give her two weeks notice tomorrow at the flower shop, and inform the manager of the bar tonight after the show that she couldn’t do any more. That’d at least give her some time. She had well enough money to last for a few months without work - plenty of time to find a new job. Soon they would find her, and they’d probably try to kill her, and there was nothing she could do to change that. She’d leave if she could, but that would never happen. She was running out of time. The panic spread, and grew, and before she could push it back down, her mirror shattered. Anya’s magic flared around her like a temperamental shadow, rising to her defence despite the lack of actual danger. Yes, they could try to kill her, but she was sure she still had time to prepare herself.

Unfortunately, for her, time had already run out.

* * *

 

“I’m sorry to have to bother you all on a weekend,” Asgore’s deep voice grumbled out across the living room of the ex-Queen, Toriel’s, home, looking out at the group of monsters all settled on various pieces of furniture. 

“Don’t sweat it, your majesty, so why’d you call us all here?” Undyne answered, the royal guard member leaning forward and listening intently. 

“Lately I’ve felt different strands of magic, just little wisps once in awhile, but it doesn’t feel like any kind of monster magic I’ve ever felt,” Asgore ventured with a serious tone.

“Do you have any idea where it’s coming from?” Toriel asked with a serious tone, her hands resting on Frisk’s shoulders in a protective manner. She had felt a similar magic, but only twice so far, and the thoughts of it concerned her.

“I’ve only felt it a handful of times, myself,” Asgore grumbled, “Three of those times were in the flower shop I regularly visit.”

“think it could be someone working there?” Sans asked, slumped back on the couch in a way which would make him seem disinterested, but the small pricks of light in his eye sockets were fixed pointedly on the king.

“I’ve yet to see any monsters working there,” Asgore said, before rumbling in a grave tone, “We may have a mage in our midst, and if that’s the case we need to deal with this quickly.”

“Do you think they’re dangerous?” Frisk asked what everyone else in the room was thinking.

“The last mages we dealt with weren’t exactly friendly,” Asgore replied with a sigh, scratching his claws through his beard as he thought, “I just don’t want the possibility of a mage sending any monsters into a panic.”

“We shouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” Toriel reminded, “If there is a mage, which is a pretty big ‘if’, then we should find them and speak to them peacefully before making any assumptions.”

“We should confront them head on!” Undyne declared angrily, “Make it clear that they aren’t sending us back into the mountain!”

“I AM INTERESTED IN SEEING HUMAN MAGIC,” Papyrus agreed, “WE SHOULD GO LOOK FOR THEM NOW!”

“not a good idea, paps,” San shook his head, “if it’s a mage, then chances are they’re avoiding monsters if this is the first we’re hearing about it.”

“I agree with Sans,” Asgore said with the same grave tone, “First thing first, we need to find this individual. I believe the mage may be one of the girls that works at the flower shops; I’ve only seen her twice through the window, but each time I go in she’s nowhere to be found. One of the other workers said she’s shy, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Maybe she is j-just shy?” Alphys asked.

“Perhaps, but it’s all we have to go on so far,” Asgore replied, “According to the employee, she sings at one of the bars down the street from the flower shop, and she’s going to be there tonight.”

“he might’ve been talking about ‘the amber window’,” Sans spoke up, “grillby told me a bit about it, said there was a singer there he wanted to try and recruit for his own bar to attract more human customers. might be a good place to check out.”

“Alright. Sans, Undyne, Papyrus, and I will go to check it out and see if we can find her,” Asgore easily slipped back into the commanding tone of a king, although his flower-print shirt took away from the presence of it all, “If there is a Mage in town, and they have yet to make themselves noticed, chances are they don't want to be found. They might give us some trouble.” 

 

***

Anya paced around the back room of the Amber Window, her fingers clenching and unclenching, and little shocks of magical energy prickling on the tips of her fingers. She was one of the last performers for the evening, a different musician’s music sounding through the wall as she fretted. She only had to sing a few songs, and then she could leave. She repeated that to herself continuously as she kept pacing. Anya stopped getting nervous about performing years ago, that wasn't the problem, the problem was that there were more monsters in the bar than usual. Among them, she had briefly spotted the unmistakable form of Grillby. 

‘Don't sweat it,’ Anya thought to herself, pulling a cigarette from the pack in her jacket and lighting it with shaking hands, ‘He won’t recognize me, he can't. It was too long ago. Technically, I should be long dead, he won't think I'm still kicking around.’ Despite trying to cheer herself up, the thought of an old friend not even remembering her somehow seemed worse. 

***

“You won’t forget me, will you? When you become some important General, we’ll still be friends, right?” The young witches voice rang out across the small mountain clearing. A teasing smile pulled at her lips as she looked up at the fire monster sitting on the rock in front of her, her hands carefully picking individual leaves of a mountain flower, “Because once you start with all the Royal Guard stuff you're going to get stuck with dull adult responsibilities.”

“... I just signed up for guard training today, Layla,” the chuckled pops and hisses that made up the fire monster’s dialect would sound like nonsense to anyone who wasn't used to it, “I doubt I'll ever make it to General.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say,” Layla replied sarcastically, tucking a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear as she stood from her picking spot, “All I'm saying is that you better remember me when you're a famous guard, out saving people every day.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Grillby shook his head, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees as he watched the girl make her way towards him, “You’re my best friend, how could I forget you?” 

“Good answer,” Layla retorted, before reaching into her dress pocket and pulling out a small stone. It was only once she held it out to the fire mister that he noticed it was attached to a leather cord with a symbol carved deeply into it.

“What's this?” He asked, taking it from the girl tentatively.

“A gift. It's a protection talisman, well it's supposed to be a protection talisman. One of the elders told me how to make it, but I don't know if I did it right,” an embarrassed blush spread across her cheeks, “I can barely even float a feather, but I'm hoping it will keep you safe once you’re a Royal Guard.” 

“I appreciate the gift, but I'm going to be fine, Layla,” Grillby replied, but slipped the talisman over his head to hang off his neck nonetheless.

“I know. I just have a bad feeling about the future,” the girl frowned, twisting a lock of hair around her finger anxiously, “Things are changing.”

 

Anya scoffed, taking one last long drag of her cigarette before aggressively putting it out in the ashtray the bar owner had left back there. Shit had definitely changed, that was for sure.

***

The musicians ahead of Anya finished their last song, said their regards to the audience, and quickly packed away their equipment to make space for Anya. By the time the witch had to go up, she had managed to squash down her remaining anxiety, and walked up to the stage with her guitar case smelling of cigarettes and whiskey. 

“If I am to be discovered I may as well make a damned good entrance,” Anya thought to herself.

The lights shining down on her were so bright that her eyes burned, and she could hardly see the audience. What little she could make out was that there was an abundance of both humans and monsters. It surprised Anya; for a majority of the time her audience was made up by humans alone. Monsters generally tried to keep away from the human run bars. However, she didn’t let that waver her movements. Anya prepared her guitar, sat upon the stool offered to her, and sang into the microphone set before her. She always used a charm on her voice to make it more pleasing to anyone who heard it, and it was a good thing too. She was a terrible singer. 

Anya usually just sang covers of whatever was popular at the moment; she could never be bothered to write her own songs. As she sang and played her guitar, her eyes began to adjust to the harsh light. Within the crowd she could see Asgore and Toriel, along with a crowd of other monsters she didn’t recognize, and in the very back sat the familiar form of Grillby. Anya had to quickly squish down the magic that tried to flare up at the sight of a long lost friend. Despite the voice at the back of her head screaming that she was screwed, Anya finished her show, thanked the audience, packed up her things, and left. On her way off the stage, Anya’s manager silently handed her her pay and muttered under his breath, “The monster sitting in the back wanted a word with you. Something about wanting you working in his bar-”

“Not interested, and you can tell him so,” Anya had to keep the venom from her tone. She left the bar quickly, not taking the time to get a drink and chat with the people as she usually did, and left through the back door of the bar and out into the alley. She just needed a moment to herself to collect her thoughts, and to quiet the magic trying to force its way out.  
The air outside the overpacked bar was stale and crisp, making Anya’s cheeks burn in the autumn air. She pulled out one of the last cheap cigarettes from the crinkled carton in her pocket, sticking it between her lips and lighting the end with a flame on the tip of her finger. Taking a long drag, she slowly let the smoke out in swirls around her, relishing in the old habit.

“ever hear ‘smoking kills’?” a deep voice sounded next to Anya a moment later, breaking her from her haze.

“That's the plan,” Anya muttered, her eyes flicking over briefly to see a skeleton monster wearing a thick blue sweater watching her. In that moment she was reminded of a Reaper, and an old friend. However, she remembered seeing this particular skeleton among her audience. Unfortunately she also remembered seeing him hanging around Asgore and a few other monsters. She would have to remain relaxed and assess what the monster has to say.

“Can I help you?” Anya asked with a raised brow, turning to face the skeleton.

“nah, just wanted to compliment you on your show,” The skeleton replied, leaning against the brick wall next to the girl. His posture spoke of nonchalance, but the lights in his eye sockets were wide, trained fixedly on the girl, “you do shows like that often?”

“Often enough to pay rent,” She replied shortly, her eyebrows pinching together in mild frustration. He didn't seem to be picking up on her distaste in the least, or at least he just didn't care, “Don’t you have friends to get back to?”

“they'll be out in a minute,” the skeleton shrugged, his surprisingly low voice sounding vaguely bored, “one of my friends said he recognized you earlier, maybe you know him?”

“Doubt it,” Anya replied, taking a long drag of her cigarette.

“you sure? his name’s asgore, big guy, horns, hard to miss in a crowd,” he described, making a chill run down Anya's spine. Of course she remembered him; Asgore had killed many of her fellow Mages. Not that they hadn’t deserved it, but it was a hard memory to forget. She had just hoped that the few pre-war monsters wouldn't recognize her.

“Heard of him on the news, never met him though,” Anya replied, keeping her tone even despite her heart slamming against her ribcage. 

“that so?” He scratched the back of his skull as if in contemplation, “yeah, I suppose you couldn't be the same human he recognized. he met her over a few centuries ago; you humans rarely live a century, right?”

Anya nodded, but kept her mouth shut.

“it’s funny,” he continued, “could’ve sworn i saw you light your cigarette with only your fingers, but that ain't possible for a human, right pal?”

Reaching into her pocket, Anya pulled out a silver zippo and lit it before snapping it shut and pushing it back into her pocket, and lied, “Must’ve been a trick of the light.” 

“must have,” The skeleton replied, “all the mages died out centuries ago.” 

Anya hummed her agreement before flicking the rest of her cigarette onto the ground and putting it out with her boot, muttering, “Never liked smoking with company. See you around, slick.”

“i'm sure you will,” the skeleton replied, before holding out his hand before she could turn to leave, “my name’s sans, sans the skeleton.”

“Anya,” she introduced shortly, ignoring his outstretched hand to instead grab her guitar case leaning on the wall next to her. The back door to the bar opened before she could turn to leave, her eyes catching on the giant form of Asgore, the other skeleton monster, a blue fish-like monster, and a shorter reptilian monster. Without waiting to see Asgore’s reaction, Anya turned on her heel and walked away from Sans and the group of monsters. She heard a loud voice ask, “WHO WAS THAT?” but by then she had turned the corner onto the closest street before quickly dipping into another alley. Pulling a black marker from her bag, she quickly scribbled out a complex circular symbol on a building wall, placed her hand on it, and muttered, “domum.”

Shadows surrounded the girl, enveloping her from view, and she disappeared. When she opened her eyes again she was standing in the front entrance of her apartment, her hand pressed against the door where a replica of the symbol she had drawn in the alley was carved into the wood of the door.

Anya slumped heavily against the door, “Oh fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been planning out this fic for a while now and only just decided to post it. I have a few ships in mind for this one, but I'm still undecided. Any ideas, comments, or constructive criticism would be appreciated! Updates may be slow.


	2. Spray-Painting in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize how popular this might become when I posted the first chapter months ago, so I hadn't actually written anything else out for it. Well it seemed to catch at least a few people's interest, so I thought I should probably update. Full disclosure, I wrote most of this at 1am and I haven't done a lot of editing, so there are bound to be mistakes. I'll try to fix them when I get a chance.  
> Enjoy!

Anya felt like she couldn’t breathe. Standing slumped against her apartment door, her guitar case abandoned next to her, and her cat rubbing soothingly across her shin, she simply stared into the empty darkness before her. It felt like all of her thoughts were travelling a mile a minute.

‘I could leave? Leave where? Can’t leave town, I’m not allowed. Maybe change jobs. Again. I don’t want to do that, I like the flower shop. But Asgore. No, okay, I have to change jobs. But if I suddenly disappear it will look suspicious. They’re already watching. I’ll quit from the bar, keep the flower shop. What about my apartment? They don’t know where I live, that’s not a problem yet. I’ll start searching for a new place, just in case.’

Anya scrubbed her hands across her face, as if that would help clear the thoughts from her mind. It didn’t, so instead she made her way into the kitchen to pour herself a tumbler of scotch. And then she had another, and another. The scotch wasn’t really helping with her problems, but at the moment it felt like it was. However, her head was far from the emptiness she craved. Instead visions of pre-war monsters flashed across her memory; Grillby, Asgore, Toriel… the list went on, but she didn’t dare hope that all of her old friends might still be alive. It had been centuries after all. The surge of sadness that passed through her chest caused the tumbler in her hand to shatter. Sighing, Anya wiped the scotch from her hands. She wouldn’t be able to get any sleep tonight, she knew that for sure. Instead, she decided to grab the black duffle bag under her bed, throw on the nearest jacket, and head back out into the night. If she was going to be awake, she might as well do something productive.

* * *

The monsters met once again after their trip to find the mage. They weren’t able to return until two in the morning since the show ran late, so Alphys had already gone home, and Frisk had been sent to bed. Toriel was the only one who had stayed up to wait for the small group of temporary mage-hunters. Asgore, Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans all looked exhausted when they walked through the doorway of Toriel’s house. They all gathered around the dining table, a cup of tea set out for each of them, but none touching their drinks.

“Do you think the young woman who played at the bar was the mage?” Toriel asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake up Frisk, while she wrung her hands anxiously. 

“definitely,” Sans replied, “saw her make a flame with just her hands. plus she disappeared in one of the allies. went back to take a look and there was some symbol painted on the wall and residue magic all over.”

“What should we do now?” Undyne asked, her face pinched into a snarl, “If she can disappear and reappear like that it’s going to be hard to find her. Plus once we do find her…”

An awkward silence filled the air. They were all thinking the same thing, but none were brave enough to voice the question. Once we find her, what do we do with her? 

“I really liked her singing,” Papyrus suddenly spoke up, his voice hushed and gloved hands tapping nervously on the top of the table.

“Yes, it was lovely,” Asgore agreed, his voice sullen, “I swear she resembles Layla almost exactly. Perhaps she is a descendent?”

“Layla?” Toriel asked, before recognition shone in her tired eyes, “Was that the young witch Grillby was friends with?”

“Grillby? He was around before the barrier?” Undyne asked, eyes wide. She hadn’t suspected the quiet bartender to have been around for the War.

Asgore hummed his confirmation, “He was apart of the Royal Guard during the war. He was even almost promoted to Captain.”

“What!?” Undyne shouted, but was immediately shushed by Toriel.

“He quit right after the barrier went up,” Asgore explained, “Layla was his best friend. When he couldn’t see her anymore… well he was rather upset for a while.”

“I can’t believe I almost forgot her,” Toriel said, “She was such a charming girl. She was one of the few humans who were on our side during the war. It’s very possible this new witch is Layla’s descendant. She was with child the last we saw her, but with everything going on… it’s hard to say.”

A heavy silence fell over the group of monsters, all enraptured in their own thoughts. Asgore and Toriel were reminiscing on the good parts of the past, Undyne was trying to imagine what the war could have been like, Sans was thinking of his short encounter with the witch, and Papyrus was trying not to fall asleep. It was past his bedtime after all.

San’s cellphone went off in his pocket, breaking the small group from their thoughts. When he opened the screen a message from Grillby appeared.

“grillby wants to talk, should i tell him about the witch?” the skeleton asked, unlocking the screen to reply to the elemental monster. Asgore rubbed his paw against the back of his neck warily and thought over their options.

“Let’s wait for now,” the tired king decided, “it’s been a long night and we could all use some rest before we make any more decisions. I can speak with Grillby tomorrow, explain that the witch might be a descendant of Layla. I don’t want to get his hopes up.” 

“Sounds good, boss,” Undyne replied, standing from her chair, “I need to get back to Alphys to let her know what’s up.”

At this point Papyrus could barely keep from slumping forward from exhaustion. Patting him on the shoulder, Sans also stood from the table with a muttered, “let’s go home, pap,” which received a drowsy nod in reply. Sans didn’t waste any time teleporting them back to their new apartment. They had just finished moving in, so boxes still littered various areas of their new home. Sans weaved around them, a tired skeleton over his shoulder, and put Papyrus to bed in his new room. 

Stepping out to let his brother sleep, Sans pulled out his phone once again and read over Grillby’s message.

GRILLS: My apologies for the late message. Are you free? I need to ask a favor of you. I’m at the bar. 

Sans sighed, scratching the back of his cervical. It felt wrong not to tell Grillby what was going on, especially if he had known a related witch back in the war days. He thought of replying, but wasn’t sure how to turn down his old friend. Another message came through on his phone.

GRILLS: I’ll reduce your tab by 10% 

Sans huffed out a short laugh, and replied.

SANS: on my way

Sans teleported directly into Grillby’s bar, not worried about crashing into any patrons since it had closed ten minutes ago. He found the fire elemental sitting at one of the tables with a drink in front of him, whiskey from the smell of it, along with a bottle of ketchup. Sans sat down and took a drink of the condiment, waiting for Grillby to speak. The bartender took a moment to collect his thoughts before saying, “You were at the Amber Window tonight.”

“if you’re worried about me cheating on you with another bar i can explain,” Sans replied, not really feeling like joking but trying anyways.

“The girl who played is a witch,” Grillby moved past Sans comment, the usual crackle of his voice taking an edge Sans hadn’t heard before, “That’s why you and Asgore were there.”

“yeah,” Sans confirmed, “we just found out about her today. asgore’s still figuring out what we should do.”

Grillby sat in a momentary silence, taking a sip of his drink which seemed to ignite the moment it touched his lips. Sans could feel the fluctuation in magic around the fire elemental. Looking at Grillby’s hand, he noticed something small and round clasped in it, but before he could get a good look the bartender had moved his hand under the table. 

“I noticed her a few weeks ago,” Grillby admitted, “I’ve been trying to keep an eye on her, but it’s been difficult. The closest I’ve managed to get was tonight. I think she can teleport similarly as you. I want you to watch her for me. Feel out for her magic and try to keep track of what she does.”

Sans could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He took another drink of ketchup and sighed warily, “listen, grillby. i know you used to be friends with some witch before the war, asgore told us, but this isn’t going to be the same girl. humans just don’t live that long.”

“I know,” Grillby replied, his grip on the whiskey tumbler tightening until the remaining liquid began to sizzle, “But I am still going to ask… Please, Sans.”

“well damn, grills,” Sans mutters, “of course i’m not going to say no. i just don’t want you to be disappointed.”

“Thank you,” Grillby sighed in relief, “I know she isn’t Layla… but I still need to speak with her. See if she knows anything about what happened to the mages.”

Nodding, Sans took a final drink before teleporting into the night.

* * *

Spray-painting while intoxicated isn’t the easiest task, but thankfully after years of practice, Anya found it as easy as breathing. She wasn’t spray-painting any kind of mural, nor was she spray-painting obscenities like some of the local youth took to, she was painting sigils. Whenever she had a night like this, nights where she couldn’t sleep and had one too many to drink, she would grab her duffle bag full of spray-paint and cover the town. Most of her sigils were for protection, or occasionally good fortune, and most humans didn’t bat an eye at them because they looked just like any other nonsense tagged in allies and on the backside of old buildings. She would spend hours in the dead of night painting and repainting her sigils, fueled by the knowledge of her weak protection, and by the half bottle of cheap scotch. 

Finishing another sigil, she tossed the nearly empty can of paint back into her duffle and continued down the alley. She made it halfway down the alley before getting caught in a dizzy spell and having to lean against the brick wall. Anya knew it wasn’t the smartest idea to wander around the city drunk as a skunk, but she also knew that she was the scariest creature in a ten mile radius. Plus the police rarely had patrol cars in this part of town at such late times of night. 

* * *

The mage is a drunkard.

Sans wasn’t sure whether he should do something. He managed to find the woman within twenty minutes of leaving Grillby’s bar, and it only took him a few seconds to notice her intoxication. He knew it was the same mage; power seemed to roll off her in waves, even more so because of her inebriation, and she left a trail of it behind her as she walked. Deciding that she couldn’t possibly be a threat in this state, he decided to follow after her. Moreso because he was curious as to why she was stumbling around the town drunk at three in the morning with a duffle bag.

The mage paused, leaning against the brick wall of a back alley, and let her duffle bag slip from her shoulder and onto the ground. It fell with a loud clang, which made Sans even more curious as to what she kept inside the bag.

“Oh god, I’m gonna hurl,” he could only faintly make out her words as she slumped forward slightly. The mage thankfully didn’t vomit, but she did stay slumped over for a number of minutes, taking deep breaths. 

“Okay, I’m good. I’m good,” The mage sighed, picking up her bag once again and throwing it over her shoulder. She continued down the alley, not stumbling as bad as last time, and Sans followed her from a distance. As he followed after her, he sent a text to Asgore.

SANS: i found the mage 

SANS: shes drunk

ASGORE: What??

ASGORE: Well that’s unexpected

ASGORE: Keep an eye on her for now, only intervene if you have to. If anything happens let me know.

Pocketing his cellphone, he payed more attention to where the mage was going. She continued walking for ten minutes or so before pausing at one of the walls. Staring at it for a minute, she shrugged off her duffle bag and pulled out a metal cylinder. Sans had to take a moment before realizing she was holding a can of spray-paint. 

SANS: now shes vandalizing a grocery store 

ASGORE: vandalizing how?

SANS: shes spray-painting something. ill send a pic if i can.

The mage spent about fifteen minutes spray-painting a weird design on the building. Because of the poor lighting in the alley, along with Sans distance, he couldn’t properly see what she was making. The mage finished off the can she had been using and tossed it in a nearby garbage can before finishing her weird design with a second, identical can of spray-paint.

‘is her bag just full of spray paint?’ Sans thought to himself. As if to answer his question, the mage pulled out a flask as she put the new can of spray-paint away. She took a long drink from it before storing it back inside the bag and continuing on her way.

‘spray-paint and alcohol,’ Sans shook his head and sighed, ‘of course.’

The skeleton waited patiently for her to get further along the alley way before walking towards the tagged building. He stared at the design for a number of minutes, trying to understand what it was, but coming up blank. Sighing, and briefly imagining the bed in his new apartment, he took a picture of the design and sent it to Asgore. Not waiting for a reply, he followed after the mage.

* * *

Anya didn’t head back to her apartment until the sun started to rise over the horizon. She didn’t notice the quick passage of time, so when the early sunlight hit her face she decided that was a sign she should go to sleep. She lugged her way back to her building, her entire body aching painfully in a mix of walking all night and having a wicked hangover on its way. Anya felt dead on her feet by the time she made it back to her apartment, and only made it up the stairs by some miracle. She was so exhausted that she forgot about her new neighbours. She was so exhausted that she didn’t notice their apartment door open. Worst of all, she didn’t notice that both neighbours were skeletons who silently watched her stumble toward her own door.

Anya barely took notice when one of the skeletons tried to introduce himself, “HELLO, NEW NE-”

“Good goddess you’re loud,” Anya groaned underneath her breath, “Sorry. Not now. Need sleep.”

Anya fumbled with her keys, her eyes finding it impossible to find the right one, and she accidentally dropped them onto the floor in the process. Hissing in frustration, and from the loud clang that rang through the hall, she slumped over to grab them and found herself needing to lean against the door in support. 

“need help with that?” A voice asked next to her. She barely clued into the voice, or how frustrated they sounded, but she still looked up at the stranger. When her eyes finally focused on the tired skeleton looking down at her, only one thought crossed her mind.

“Oh fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a review to let me know what you think so far and where you'd like this fic to go! I am open to suggestions!


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